Engine parts smashed Ryanair window that man's head was sucked out of, report says
A preliminary report by US investigators says an engine fan blade broke on last month's flight from Greece to Germany.
Fragments from a malfunctioning engine shattered a Ryanair aircraft's cabin window last month, resulting in a passenger's head and right shoulder being pulled through the opening, according to US investigators.
A preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) indicates that the incident occurred on July 10, shortly after the flight departed from Greece en route to Germany, when an engine fan blade fractured.
Ljubisa Karović, a Serbian national, sustained "serious injuries and shock" after his head and right shoulder were drawn out of the plane's window. His wife, Svetlana Grković Maksimović, later recounted to BBC Serbia that she and two other passengers held onto his legs for several minutes.
The NTSB report detailed that the flight from Thessaloniki to Memmingen "experienced a No. 2 (right) engine fan-blade-out (FBO) failure during climb out." The crew opted to return to Thessaloniki International Airport (SKG), where they executed a "uneventful landing." Greek authorities fully delegated the investigation to the NTSB in the days following the event.
The report also outlined the flight crew's timeline of events, noting that they received a "high vibration" engine alert during the ascent. In response, they reduced engine power and performed a series of checks. The vibrations ceased, and the crew continued their climb using autopilot. However, engine vibrations subsequently intensified, followed by a loud bang, prompting the crew to declare an emergency and initiate their descent.
Flight attendants reported experiencing and hearing the vibrations, and observing a small amount of smoke before the oxygen masks were deployed. One flight attendant then noticed passengers calling for assistance after a passenger became "partially lodged in a damaged cabin window," with the entire window missing.
The engine had undergone ultrasonic inspections in May of this year, with no faults detected, the report confirmed. Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary had previously suggested that "foreign object damage" to an engine might have caused the incident. The aircraft was operated by Malta Air, a subsidiary of Ryanair.